Wow, what a night.
Cedar Crest (still stinging from last Friday’s loss to Warwick) storms into Lancaster and wacks McCaskey, 69-40.
Not completely stunned that the Falcons won, but that final score was definitely a head-turner.
<Please check for Phil Glatfelter’s recap of the Crest-McCaskey game in Wednesday’s New Era.>
Speaking of Section 1 … just when it looked like Warwick was poised to jump up with the leaders, the Warriors drop a 63-54 decision to last-place Penn Manor and fall two games off the pace. That one had to sting.
Round 2 of Section 1 starts Friday night (don’t forget, Hempfield-McCaskey is Saturday afternoon in the Capital City Classic in Harrisburg>, and we’ll have quite a logjam on our hands:
Cedar Crest (10-1, 16-2) and McCaskey (10-1, 16-2) are tied for first, Hempfield (9-2, 15-3) is a game back, followed by Warwick (8-3, 13-5), Manheim Township (6-5, 12-6) and Penn Manor (4-7, 7-11), which obviously doesn’t mind playing spoiler.
Ask Warwick.
Just a hunch but we’re going to need a 1-game playoff to decide Section 1.
Alrighty … Section 3. We have a logjam there, too, compliments of Lebanon’s 54-37 win over Lampeter-Strasburg, which was knocked out of sole possession of first place for the first time this season. I was in Lebanon for that game, so please check Wednesday’s New Era for my recap.
Lebanon (9-2, 12-5) successfuly completed its 3-game gauntlet, beating Elco, Manheim Central and L-S to grab a share of first place with L-S, which had its 6-game winning streak snapped after shooting just 13-for-50 and getting outrebounded 42-24.
Next up for L-S (9-2, 13-5) is a trip to Central (8-3, 11-7) on Friday. A Barons’ victory means even more chaos in the section.
Elco (7-4, 10-8) is still hanging around, and don’t count the Raiders out.
The other two races haven’t exactly been thrillers:
Conestoga Valley (6-5, 10-8) kept its 2-game lead in Section 2 with a 55-39 win over Cocalico.
Meanwhile, upstart Garden Spot (4-7, 8-9) is on the brink of reaching .500 (and becoming District 3-playoff eligible), and is two back of CV. Haven’t seen the Spartans yet this season.
Solanco (3-8, 7-11) can tie Garden Spot for second place with a win over the Spartans on Friday in New Holland.
I might check that game out.
And in Section 4 (this kills me) … Lancaster Catholic steamrolled Columbia 82-40 and clinched a tie for the section championship … on January 23, with five more section game to go.
If the Crusaders can top rival Lebanon Catholic on Friday, they’ll be the champs, and they’ll have two weeks to prep for their L-L League playoff opener.
Hoping to have a notebook ready for Wednesday night. Have some things on my plate so I’m not sure when I’ll write that. But please stay tuned.
JEFFREY REINHART
